I'm Here For You
by crOwnlEssG
Summary: Tag to 5x18 "Point of No Return" - Gabriel devotes the week to visiting Castiel in the hospital.
1. Chapter 1

"_As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its own skill.__" ~ Helen Keller_

The banishment spell was unlike he had ever sensed before, but when he felt its shockwave, Gabriel dropped everything he was doing like a bad candy bar and went to investigate.

Somehow, he was not surprised when his search led him to Castiel, although the shrimping boat was a new location for him. Then again, banishment spells did not exactly zap angels to the snazziest spots on Earth; now, if his little brother had wound up in maybe Las Vegas or a nude beach in Florida, then Gabriel would be laughing and Castiel would be the most (unintentionally) awesome brother ever.

But he was not laughing right now. On the one hand, he was impressed with Castiel's creativity with the spell, and he had seen a hell of a lotof ingenious things during the past millennia so kudos for that. On the other, he could not help being pissed off and a little worried. What the hell had Castiel been thinking? ("A great big plate of nothing sprinkled with stupid, that's what!" Gabriel thought.) What kind of situation had he gotten himself into that would drive him to this point?

He knew Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum had something to do with this – God knew those damn Winchester brothers were in on this messed up initiative – and Gabriel swore if they had pushed Castiel into doing this, he would gladly redefine the phrase 'cruel and unusual punishment'. Sure, he had been crappy to his little brother in TV land like a kid playing too hard with his toy until it got a bit of damage, but at least he had been mindful enough not to let Castiel near the point of dying, not like this.

Peering closer, past the blood and the deathly pale skin of his vessel, Gabriel could see that his little brother was no more than celestial vapor fading in and out of focus inside his meat-suit. His Grace was dangerously flickering out like a busted light bulb that could pop out any second and neither he nor his vessel (Jimmy, was it?) were showing any signs of reaching consciousness soon.

From his perch on the cabin's roof, invisible, he watched as the sailors crowd around Castiel like a side-show attraction, stating things like "stowaway," "cult involvement," "hazing," "terrorist victim" and a bunch of other idiotic crap that made Gabriel want to just swoop down, grab Castiel and split this banana to save these humans the trouble. But, damn it, his little brother was in such a bad shape he could not risk moving him the fast way.

Gabriel stayed by Castiel as the boat turned around to head back to land.

He stayed as a couple of the sailors treated Castiel's injuries as best as they could.

He stayed when they got Castiel transferred to an ambulance.

When the paramedics started to get Castiel intubated, Gabriel left, having had seen enough.

TBC

_Comments? Suggestions? Please be kind, this is my first fanfic._


	2. Chapter 2

"_Life is short. It can come and go like a feather in the wind." ~ Shania Twain_

He was busy, Gabriel told himself; he had bigger, more important things to do now that the world was ending, and baby-sitting stupid little brothers simply did not fit into that category.

He found himself in the hospital anyway.

In a nutshell, Castiel looked horrible, and the sight of all these machines and tubes and wires around him made Gabriel a little queasy. Angels should not need breathing devices to keep them alive, angels should not be wired to a heart monitor to know if they were still in their meat-suit or not, angels should have their welfare dependent on their _Grace_ and not on an IV drip.

Gabriel did not know much about healing other angels – that was Raphael's job, and from what he had heard, his brother had gone a teeny bit psycho lately – but he was aware that just snapping his fingers and granting Castiel the equivalent of a full recovery right now was too soon. At the weak state he was in, suddenly giving him that much power and strength was comparable to putting a car on a baby's shoulders.

Since there was no other family member available to help Castiel (and since Gabriel sort of wanted to make it up to him after TV land), he surrendered to the older brother instincts he thought he had squashed down after all these centuries living on his own and did what he could. Thankfully, he had gotten here before any of the doctors could, and one of the few good things about the Apocalypse was that more and more people were being admitted into hospitals, which meant the doctors were gonna be extra busy, which meant that he could be alone with Castiel for five minutes without anyone yelling, "Oh my God, what the hell are you doing to him? Get out before I call security!"

With a snap of his fingers, Gabriel transported himself and Castiel to a pocket dimension in the room, since that was as much distance as his little brother could handle at the moment. The pocket dimension was basically an extension of the hospital room they were in now, except that none of the humans would ever know it was there, let alone have the pure luck to stumble into it even if they happened to slip all over the room.

The doctors around here probably knew more about helping people get better than Gabriel did (by just a fraction, of course), but Gabriel knew a whopping hell of a lot more about angels, and the idea of the nurses giving Castiel a whole cocktail of drugs did not sit well with him. Plus, there was always the chance that Castiel would wake up – confused, no less – at the most inopportune of times and start wreaking holy damage at the poor soul sticking a thermometer in his mouth. Hence the whole point of giving his little brother his own private room.

Gabriel figured that the king size reclining bed with a silk comforter and chamomile scented pillows would be comfy enough for Castiel to rest on; he considered changing the plain design of the comforter with a more 'stimulating' print but decided against it at the last minute, since the last thing he needed was his little brother waking up and freaking out. He conjured a plasma TV on the wall at the end of the bed just because he can, and also because hospital rooms always lacked pizzazz; no wonder people kept dying here.

Lastly, he poofed up a fake-Castiel to take the real one's place on the ratty hospital bed so no one would wonder where one of their comatose patients had went to, and he made sure that the details were exactly the way the paramedics had left him.

As much as he hated looking at the stuff, he had no choice but to keep IV drip and breathing devices on Castiel, but he could definitely leave behind the heart monitor in the 'real world'. The sound it gave off was one of the most annoying things he had ever heard – but it certainly was not frightening; just because the constant beeping noises reminded him way too much of a bomb counting down did not mean he was getting paranoid and scared, and neither did the fact that Castiel could not even breathe on his own, and the fact that what remained his Grace stood as much chance at survival as an ice cube in the freaking Sahara desert and how the very life force was being drained out of him…

Gabriel sighed and ran a hand down his face, and he really should stop picking up every human mannerism he came across to. Looking back at Castiel, all he could think of was, "This is not good."

Castiel was as pale as the sheets that were wrapped around him, and Gabriel was pretty sure that only half the reason that was the case had to do with the blood loss. That banishment spell had ripped his little brother up and his Grace was the sole thing keeping his angelic self intact, and his Grace was not exactly operating at full power either. The breathing tube and IV drip was replenishing his vessel alright, but Castiel was gradually fading away each time his chest minutely rose and fell.

But that was not the worse part, oh no. The worst part was that Castiel's Grace did not even react to his when they had been less than a mile's radius of each other. Gabriel could forgive Castiel for not becoming aware of his true identity sooner during that time in TV land, back when his little brother did not know who he had been tangling with. After that incident, Castiel should be able to distinguish Gabriel's Grace easily by now, and hey, archangels had way more kick-ass Grace than regular angels so his should not be hard to miss.

Right now, even though they were just separated by a meagre space of three feet, Castiel's Grace was as responsive as road kill. Okay, that was one of the last things Gabriel wanted to associate his little brother with.

Castiel was in the mother of all comas, there was no denying that, but the world was still ending and Gabriel had recently found a promising lead that might get everything swinging back to normal – it was either a lead or a very entertaining bust in the making, but it was a chance and he was going to take it.

Castiel was safe here in the pocket dimension; Gabriel made certain that it was hidden from both humans and other angels. However, even with that knowledge, Gabriel found himself hesitant to just leave his little brother alone, and he wondered when was the last time he had actually bothered to care this much about any of his family members.

He could not stay here; he had already wasted enough time as it was. But his recently reawakened older brother instincts were nagging at him the way Michael used to, and he had never been able to ignore that tone, no matter how hard he tuned it out.

Finally, Gabriel summoned his dog and ordered it not to leave Castiel under any circumstances. After conjuring some kibble and a litter box by the corner, Gabriel took flight before he could berate himself at how ridiculous those past ten seconds had been.

TBC

_Comments are love! Thank you so much for the first batch of comments! They feed me like I've been kept underground for weeks :)_


	3. Chapter 3

I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter: Remember the dog Gabriel had in "Tall Tales"? Yeah, same dog. Now back to the story!

* * *

"_Close as a brother_

_The way we used to be_

_I'll hold my breath_

_And wait for you to breathe"_

_Newsboys - Entertaining Angels _

* * *

Gabriel found himself back in the hospital the following day, just as the first traces of night trickled in.

The bad news was, from the look of things, Castiel had not woken up yet, but he had expected that much. The good news was Castiel's Grace had at least stopped guttering out while he had been away; his little brother's condition had stabled and if Gabriel knew where Dad was hanging out, he would have sent a thank you note.

Still, while Castiel's Grace was not wavering anymore, the sight of it was hardly a comforting one: there was so little left of it that the only thing it could fully fill up was a freaking juice box! And not the good variety either. It was a miserable, tiny thing that hardly befitted an angel, but right now it was Castiel's sole chance of making it through this.

It was weird that Gabriel kept returning to him. He had known Castiel back in Heaven, of course, and he had spent as much time with him as he had done with the other gazillion angels, taking note that each angel received the same amount of his attention as the other; no more, no less. It had been one of his duties as 'the Messenger' to brief all his younger siblings about the necessary stuff, and even for an archangel like himself, it had been hell, figuratively speaking.

Going back to Castiel, he had not picked up that there was anything special about him (the kid could have been a bit more social though). He had merely been another angel Gabriel had to take into account, and sometimes give a little pep talk for when the time came to step out of the house. Before leaving Heaven, he had sort of caught a rumor that Castiel was one of the few choice candidates in a big assignment that was several thousand years in the making, and that was about it. The point was that the two of them had not established any particularly strong ties, what with Gabriel being one of 'The Big Four' and Castiel just being a common soldier.

And it was not like Castiel had been the first angel he had seen since he had set up his self-imposed exile; hell, he had witnessed a truckload of angels sneaking around the planet before the Apocalypse even started. What was more, he was aware that he had siblings everywhere succumbing to more gruesome fates recently, and out of all the angels he had to go to, the arrow pointed at Castiel.

Again, weird.

He supposed he could kick homesickness out of the equation; he had encountered way too many angels on his time on Earth already for him to not even remotely miss home. Maybe it was because Castiel actually understood humans more than most angels, going past the perspective of them being messed-up monkeys with nothing better to do in their lives than screw each other and the world. Humans were a fun bunch, really; and life with them was certainly more interesting than back in Heaven. Plus, they had more importance than what the majority of the angel population gave them credit for.

Maybe it was because Castiel was gradually turning human himself, and it was not everyday that angels were free-falling in slow-motion. As of this moment, his little brother was so feeble that he was pretty much stuck inside his vessel – not like oh-crap-I-got-myself-locked-in-and-the-door-can-only-open-from-the-outside stuck; more like damn-it-every-possible-exit-collapsed-and-if-I-don't-get-the-light-going-soon-I'm-gonna-die! stuck.

Gabriel, thankfully, got his brain off his train of thought when he noticed his dog licking at his little brother's hand, the one that was not buried underneath the comforter because it was attached to the IV drip.

"Hey, stop that," he chastised.

Normally, his dog obeyed his every command, though this time the thing gave a soft whimper and started licking again.

Gabriel sighed and walked to the other side of the bed. He picked his dog up and set it to the floor; he saw that the kibble was all gone and that he had forgotten to conjure a water bowl. Thinking it was thirsty or something, Gabriel snapped his fingers and a water bowl and more kibble appeared.

He met the dog's eyes and pointed at the corner. "Scoot," he said.

Instead, the dog just gave the bowls the barest of glance, jumped back onto the bed and proceeded to lick Castiel's hand again.

Gabriel rolled his eyes; this time, he picked the little critter up and simply held it against his chest. The dog whimpered a tad louder and began squirming around in his arms; this never happened before.

"What's wrong with you, you got a parade of fleas or something?" Gabriel could not help but ask.

His dog was leaning forward now; more specifically, it was leaning toward Castiel. Gabriel turned to see what it was that was getting his dog so hyped up, figuring that Castiel might have had an anchovy in between his fingers that the nurses had missed.

That was when he saw it: Castiel's fingers twitched.

"Well, I'll be damned," Gabriel muttered, huffing out a laugh. His little brother had just made a reaction; yeah, it was a late one, but it was a reaction nonetheless.

When he looked back down to his dog, it was relaxed in his arms and was no longer fidgeting. "Good boy," he praised. He gave it a rewarding pat on the head before placing it at the foot of the bed.

Little brother was recovering faster than what he had predicted, and for that, Gabriel was glad, if not a bit proud. If Castiel was able to move his fingers, then he was healing considerably. In fact, it was enough to convince Gabriel that Castiel did not need the breathing tube anymore; if Castiel's mind was running good enough to move his fingers, then something as automatic as breathing should not be that much harder to get to work on. It may seem a bit too rash, but Castiel was a big boy – he had went to Hell and back and had survived the wrath of one of Gabriel's older brothers; he can handle breathing again on his own.

Right?

Whatever doubts and second thoughts came at him arrived too late as he snapped his fingers and the breathing tube was gone. At first, nothing happened, and, crap, Castiel was not even drawing in a single breath; after half a minute, as much as he loathed it, Gabriel was on the verge of putting the tube back in his little brother's throat when Castiel began a frail sputtering fit.

He looked like he was choking on his own air, and it took Gabriel a while to discover that Castiel could not really breathe, as if he was sucking in oxygen but could not make it reach his lungs. In an instant, Gabriel scooped him in a semi-upright position (and holy crap, was he supposed to feel this light?), thinking that Castiel could breathe a little easier without him being flat on his back.

Unfortunately, the only thing that triggered was one seriously violent coughing fit. Whatever pint-size amount of strength Castiel had managed to regain when Gabriel had been out was now draining away and taking a lot more with it. The coughs were coming more persistently, and no matter how hard Castiel would try wheezing in a breath, his efforts always came short and he was met with a stronger attack of coughs.

Castiel was getting breathless, but the fit did not show any signs of dying down soon; the already weak hold he had unconsciously put on Gabriel was getting weaker. He was shaking from the effort he could not control and the sounds spewing out of his mouth were getting less pleasant and more desperate. At this rate, Gabriel would not be surprised if Castiel coughed up the remnants of his grace.

No way was he going to let that happen.

"Come on, Cas, _breathe_! Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale." said Gabriel, running a hand up and down his little brother's back.

Castiel either had not heard him or could not carry out the task; his coughs were quieting down not because he was getting better, but because he was so low on energy that he could pass out at any second.

Gabriel hefted his little brother's dead, trembling weight up. "Shhh, it's okay, Cas, it's okay. I'm here now, alright? Big bro's gonna take care of you." he cooed softly. "Breathe for me, okay? Can you do that, brother? Come on; inhale – " Gabriel took in a deep breath and, at the same time, hugged Castiel closer. " – and exhale." he said, releasing the breath and letting it wash over Castiel. The air in the room suddenly smelled like dewdrops at dawn, like wind in the mountains, like the birth of a star…

Like Home.

His words seemed to have had an impact since Castiel gave another attempt at breathing; however, again it was like building a house of cards and having it crumble down too soon as Castiel, with a shudder, gasped but failed to take it to his lungs.

"That's good, that's good. Stay with me here, alright?" said Gabriel. "Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale…"

It took a while, but Castiel finally achieved a full breath, shaky and raspy as it was. After that, it was all about maintaining the rhythm; Gabriel held his little brother tight as if to prevent him from falling apart, all the while keeping his hand running up and down his back in assurance.

"Shhh, it's okay, Cas. Just keep breathing and you'll be back asleep before you know it." Gabriel comforted.

Gabriel lost track of time, just focused on holding his little brother as he struggled to breathe, and for a moment, it was merely him and Castiel – no war, no Winchesters; just family and keeping each other safe. When he deemed Castiel's breathing pattern was stable enough, he gingerly removed him from where he was slumped against his shoulder and put him back on the bed, although not before he adjusted the bed's angle so that Castiel could have less difficulty in breathing.

Now that Gabriel could see more, he saw that Castiel's wounds had reopened during the fit, as shown by the specks of blood staining his hospital gown. With a quick snap of his fingers, the bandages were changed and Castiel was snugly tucked in; his breaths still came with a bit of a quiver but that would settle down with time.

Gabriel refilled the IV drip and changed the kibble at the corner to steak, the latter being a reward for his dog. Castiel was alright; his dog was alright.

His job done, Gabriel left.

TBC

* * *

_Hmm, chapter are getting longer for some reason, but I suppose that's a good thing? Again, thank you so much more the comments, alerts and faves! If I had an electric billboard, I would flash my thank you's there._

_Comments feed Gabriel's dog! :)_


	4. Chapter 4

"_I am not that feather to shake off_

_My friend when he must need me."_

_~ William Shakespeare _

* * *

The next day, Gabriel returned to the hospital, albeit this time, it was as a means of seeking shelter.

Of course he was not hiding, and he most certainly had not just managed to escape with barely all his limbs and his dignity intact from a bunch of nymphs who got lucky and had the jump on him. And this was _not_ a tactical retreat either, since he did _not_ retreat from anybody, _especially_ from an entire horde of naked female immortal deities with a huge enough Jacuzzi to accommodate a football stadium. No, this was sneaking out for a breather and waiting for the heat to die down; Gabriel would be back for them… eventually.

He was still dripping wet when he got to the hospital room, and puddles were already forming underneath him. He was breathing a little hard too, but that was because he just zapped here from Italy.

"You know, bro," Gabriel started, even though he doubted Castiel could hear him right now. "When this end-of-the-world shtick reaches its curtain call, I want you to keep in mind that Naiads get jealous real easily, and that you haven't _seen_ a catfight 'til you see _them_ whack each other silly." he laughed, plopping down at the foot of the bed. "They probably taught you in home-school that water's the most flexible element, right? So trust me when I tell you that those chicks _redefined _the word 'flexible'!"

Gabriel snickered satisfactorily as he wringed the water out of the corner of his jacket. He was told that the Naiads had some info he was interested in, but the Naiads had wanted a little something in return, something Gabriel was more than willing to oblige. Needless to say, he hardly got the scoop but as of the moment he really was not complaining with what he had received.

He needed to hang out with nymphs a bit more.

Right now, TV was looking like a good option while he chilled, and he doubted it had been used since he put it there, unless his dog figured out how to work the remote.

"Where _is _the little fella anyway?" Gabriel wondered.

He could always use his powers to locate it immediately, but where was the fun in that? Eventually, he found it next to Castiel, balancing on its hind legs and licking at his little brother's left cheek.

"Okay, as adorable as this is, I don't want Cas to accidentally swallow your slobber. When he's awake, you can do that as much as you want." said Gabriel.

When his dog gave him that puppy-eyed look and yapped, almost pleadingly, it caused Gabriel to have a second glance at Castiel, and that was when he noticed his fever-flushed complexion.

Gabriel was at his little brother's side in an instant and his dog slowly backed off. Castiel's expression was twisted into some semblance of pain or fear or both and there were beads of sweat on his forehead. His eyes were moving rapidly under their lids; he was mumbling under his breath as well, but his voice was so faint everything was coming out as an unintelligible half-dead whisper. Though, as far as Gabriel could tell, he was speaking in Enochian.

Gabriel then experimentally placed his hand on Castiel's forehead to feel his temperature and he blinked in surprise at how high it was. He felt Castiel lean slightly into his palm and release a helpless moan of what Gabriel guessed was relief, which made him realize that he was still very wet and cold. Little brother must be really bad off as to seek respite this much; so that was why the dog was licking his face.

Underneath his hand, Gabriel could also feel the occasional tremor running through Castiel's body, and how his breath would hitch every once in a while. Gabriel had the suspicion that this was a side-effect from (maybe) removing the breathing tube a bit too soon.

"Great, you try to get a guy to breathe on his own and he thanks you by coming down with a fever." mused Gabriel removing his hand.

Whether or not it was a reaction to the coolness being taken away from him, Castiel's brow pinched and he let out a cough.

"…s-s-stop… hurts… I-I don't…" Castiel shuddered out, sagging lower from where he was seated.

"Fever _and_ nightmares," Gabriel huffed out. "Guess the chamomile on the pillow's not working."

His dog barked at him from the other end of the bed, and if Gabriel did not know any better, he would say that it was telling him to haul ass and get to work.

"Alright, alright," he groused, and if anyone asked if an archangel had ever followed the orders of a dog, he would deny it and quickly change the subject.

Gabriel snapped his fingers and a cool cloth dipped in holy water appeared on Castiel's forehead, startling him a bit before another moan escaped his dry lips and he visibly relaxed. And then thinking "Why the hell not," Gabriel also spiked Castiel's IV drip with a touch of holy water. Healing him with just a snap of his fingers, even for a little bit, still seemed risky, so Gabriel supposed that was as much as he could do for the fever at present.

That ought to take care of the fever.

Did he still need to take care of the nightmares? It was not like they were essentially connected to Castiel's health or anything anyway.

His dog barked at him again, louder this time.

There was no way the dog was reading his mind, right?

His dog barked three more times.

"Oh for the love of… Alright, I'm on it. Yeesh! I can't believe I'm actually listening to you." grumbled Gabriel.

Fine, he will fix the nightmares, but he was not going to use his powers, nor enforce that brotherly-hugging-sweetness crap again; once was enough to last him an entire millennia. Okay, so he did not really regret doing that yesterday, but he _did_ have an image to maintain and he would rather not be considered a softy.

"… can't h-have them… I won't… betray…" Castiel swallowed, and his throat must be so dry because he flinched at the gesture.

Gabriel tapped his knee as he tried to think of a way to fix this. A couple of seconds later, he had his light bulb sparking up.

He poofed up a wing chair (no pun intended) beside the bed and sat down on it. "Come on, bro, give me a name of the bad guy in that noggin of yours." he said.

For a while, it looked like Castiel was just striving to get a decent intake of air. "… we can s-still… stop this… sister, b-brother… I implore…"

"A name, Castiel. Give me a name." Gabriel pressed on.

"… don't… no, enough… it's painful…"

"What, Cas? What's painful? Who's doing this to you? I know someone's there."

Castiel moaned and weakly turned his head away from Gabriel; his breaths were coming raspier and more erratically and Gabriel knew that he was reaching him.

Gabriel materialized at the opposite side of the bed and leaned so close to Castiel that he could feel the heat emanating from him.

"Who, brother? Who's hurting you?" he asked softly.

Castiel's face scrunched up in discomfort and he let out a shaky, quiet, "Z-Zachariah…."

Zachariah. The name ringed a bell. Oh yeah, Mr. Annoying McKiss-up; he remembered him now: he was the guy who tagged along the archangels like a desperate groupie, and he was sort of notorious for making fledglings cry.

Gabriel straightened up and brought the chair to the other side. He was not called the Messenger for nothing; if there was anything he could rely on, it was his words.

"Zachariah, huh?" he chuckled mirthlessly. "Well, he _is _a dickhead, I can tell you that. But he's a wuss, really – think little-girl-screaming-her-panties-off wuss."

Castiel was still breathing a bit too unevenly to Gabriel's ears, but it was steadying and he took that as a good sign.

"What, you don't believe me? Back in the day, he was insisting to Michael that he can do something about the dinosaurs overrunning the Earth, and by that, I meant Zach was jumping around like a total moron and practically peeing his pants just to get the approval. Michael got annoyed enough to send the little booger off, and I think Zach actually _did _pee himself right there and then. Anyhow, that was also Zach's first day on Earth, _and _his first time to actually _see _the ginormous lizards. And you know what happened next?"

Gabriel issued a dramatic pause, just to add a bit of effect.

"He got eaten by a Zupaysaurus." he said, sniggering. "Now, if he got eaten by a T-rex, I would've felt sorry for him. But do you know the size of a Zupaysaurus? It's like a freaking midget compared to a T-rex!"

He noticed that the lines of pain on his little brother's face had lessened, although the nightmares had yet to relinquish their hold.

Gabriel was only beginning.

He relayed Castiel of the time when he had played a trick on Zachariah, telling him to find a star that did not genuinely exist and Zachariah ended up lost for days.

He told him of the instance when Zachariah ran away like crazy when he disturbed a hippo-sized hornet's nest.

And of course, he had not forgotten about the time when Zachariah had been trying too hard to please Lucifer and ended up pissing him off so hard Lucifer sent Zachariah to another dimension where there were flying blob-like creatures that exploded goop if they got agitated, and boy were they agitated when Zachariah just suddenly popped into their breeding ground.

When Gabriel was finished, Castiel was sleeping peacefully, which was the first time Gabriel had seen him like this.

Before he left to pick things up in Italy, he realized that, after all his time being here, he had not even snapped himself dry.

TBC

* * *

_Once more, thank you for the support! They help me write the next few chapters of my first fanfic a lot easier._

…_also, my classes re-start tomorrow, so reviews – even just a single word or a simple exclamation point – would really boost me up._


	5. Chapter 5

"_The day is done, and the darkness _

_Falls from the wings of Night _

_As a feather is wafted downward _

_From an eagle in his flight"_

_~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow _

* * *

The subsequent night, Gabriel had no idea why he came back to the hospital.

He really should be more focused on the whole Apocalypse thing, particularly now that he had a strong lead on something. Things were suddenly picking up their pace and it was only a matter of time before a huge event happened, such as a whole network of towns detonating like a row of roman candles, and people sure as hell would not be smiling about it.

Right now, he had a place and he had his agenda; he just had to wait for the date.

Gabriel had at least a hundred things he still needed to do, but when he had been flying, he suddenly had the urge to change his course. He got it; he did have the (slight) tendency to (sometimes) get easily distracted, but - come on! - even _he_ knew that this war was something that could not be put off or ignored (and Dad knew how hard he tried doing that last part).

Seriously, though; he had no reason to be here. Castiel was perfectly fine - well, maybe not _perfectly_ fine, but it did not look like he would die any second from now. He did not seem to have moved since yesterday, his fever was still there and his Grace was still about as impressive as a scrawny little night-light. But things were finally looking up for his little brother because he was actually healing, and really, Gabriel cannot do anything else for him that does not involve using his powers. After standing around doing nothing for five minutes, it just confirmed Gabriel's suspicions that Castiel did not need him right now.

So why was he still not leaving?

Gabriel walked over to the bed to check on Castiel's temperature. He placed his hand against his little brother's right cheek, then at the side of his neck; he clucked his tongue when he found out how high his fever was, although it was not as pressing as it had been a day ago.

Yesterday, the skin felt so hot that it was as if Castiel had flown way too close to the sun and nearly got himself flambéed. Now, it was like Castiel only had a quarter of the distance left before he could reach the sun, but then someone yanked him back by the wings and dragged his ass back home; Gabriel had the briefest mental image of that same someone telling Castiel that he was grounded without TV and dessert for pulling a stupid stunt like that.

He transferred his hand to the cool cloth on Castiel's forehead to check if it was still doing its job, and he was totally not doubting his capabilities, because there was no way he could have screwed up on making something as simple as a cool cloth that never lost its coolness. As he expected, the sensation under his fingers remained pleasantly icy.

Castiel was deeply asleep, exhausted probably from the nightmares. Gabriel stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest, more than a tad appalled when the thought to ruffle his little brother's hair entered his head.

His dog finally woke up from its place on Castiel's lap and raised its head questioningly at him. As Gabriel drank in the sight, it occurred to him just how fragile his little brother was on that bed. The planet was on a one-way road leading to the edge of a cliff and all Castiel had was a dog to watch over him and keep him company.

As great as his dog was, that thought panged him like a bitch-slap.

"Yeah, sure. I could use a bit of R n' R. It's not like the world's gonna end… yet." he casually thought.

Before Gabriel could stop himself, he muttered a quick, "Scooch over, guys," as he climbed into the bed and under the comforter, right beside his little brother. He maneuvered himself until he was comfy, albeit he was careful not to wake Castiel. He conjured the remote for the plasma into his hand once he was good and, with a press of the button, he had access to every porn show known to man.

Since Castiel did not look like he was going to wake soon, Gabriel figured he deserved to indulge himself, but of course he was considerate enough to lower the volume; he did not need Castiel having nightmares about _this_. He snapped his fingers and a large bowl of popcorn and a can of soda materialized on his lap.

About five hours later, Gabriel was surprised to find Castiel's warm head snuggled into his shoulder.

Gabriel shifted a bit, making a move to stand up and leave without disturbing him (because to say this was awkward would be an understatement), but then stopped. Castiel was subconsciously clinging onto him like a lifeline, which was proof that his Grace was finally reacting to Gabriel's.

Instead of pushing him back to the other side of the bed, Gabriel smirked and put an arm around him to pull Castiel closer. "You're an idiot, you know that?" he murmured fondly.

If Castiel had heard him through the haze of sleep, he just kept breathing.

After some time, when he had reached his twenty-seventh show, Gabriel was once again interrupted, though by a different cause.

Castiel was whimpering faintly, and from how his brow was slowly knitting together, Gabriel bet that another nightmare was well in the works. Usually, Gabriel would not be this sympathetic so quickly but, damn, he had not been aware that he had gotten himself so attached to Castiel until now.

"Hey, hey, Cas, no going back there, alright?" said Gabriel as he drew his little brother a tad closer. "You already got out once, I don't want you going back. Come on, you're better than this."

Castiel moaned pathetically once before his expression smoothened out; he sagged further into Gabriel's shoulder and shivered slightly. For a second, his fever spiked to a higher temperature before that brusque addition of heat dwindled down.

"It's okay, brother; I gotcha." Gabriel stated softly, clutching him tighter. Without even considering it, he kissed Castiel on the temple. "And if you dare tell anyone about this, I'm burying you under eight feet of mud and have my dog pee on your spot." he added.

The rest of the night went on without a hitch, and for the rest of the night, Gabriel had lost interest in watching TV. He studied his little brother cuddled beside him, his brother who had sacrificed and lost so much yet still kept fighting, his brother who was presently more human than angel but was so much closer to him than any of his other siblings.

It was then that Gabriel realized that this was one of the things worth fighting for, that Castiel was one of the people worth living for. Family was always important to Gabriel, but it was only right now that the reason for that was refreshed.

Things will get better, and one way or another, this whole family feud will be over. But as of the moment, the Apocalypse can wait; he was all Castiel had here and Gabriel was not going to abandon him.

For the first time, Gabriel stayed with his little brother until morning.

TBC

* * *

…_just so you know, Gabriel's soda was Pepsi XD_

_Awww, you guys are awesome! Now I really wish I could thank you all individually, but school's already here and it hates everything that makes me happy. I'm gonna update as fast as I can, but expect __slight__ delays from now on._

_More chapters soon! Reviews help them come sooner!_


	6. Chapter 6

"_O heavy lightness, serious vanity, _

_Misshapen chaos of well seeming forms, _

_Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, _

_Sick health, still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!"_

_~William Shakespeare_

_

* * *

_

Gabriel was doing a bit of remote viewing when morning arrived. It was something he had not done in over a while, and though it was kind of a lame thing for an archangel to stoop down to, it would suck even harder if he got floppy at that area.

In his mind's eye, he could see that the local Dubu population in Kenya was encroaching on the human villages since the recent bout of earthquakes had basically made them a pissed off, murderous bunch of hobos.

In Moscow, Rusalki were luring a truckload of men like it was Mardi Gras as a sort of a going away/end of the world party.

There was a huge battle taking place between demons and angels off the coast of Ittoqqortoormiit, and needless to say that the polar bears were getting freaked out since most of them were being used as crash pads.

Yamamba and Yuki Onna were having an epic bitch-fight over what was left of the mountains of Ashigara and, at the same time, causing one of the biggest landslides Japan had ever seen.

In an oasis that appeared once every fifteen years in the Thar Desert, he could see Kali having a little barbeque and lounging around in a pool by herself.

And damn, Kali was looking smoking hot, literally _and _metaphorically.

Gabriel quickly moved onto another country when Kali sensed that she was being watched.

He had hardly skimmed over Easter Island when he perceived something wrong next to him – his body – like, seriously, seriously wrong, and his thoughts immediately went to his sick little brother.

In a flash, Gabriel opened his eyes and was back in the hospital room, and it appeared that he had returned just in time:

Castiel's face was burning with the fever, slicked with cold sweat and twisted in what had to be panic. His entire body was convulsing under the comforter as he muttered spontaneous bursts of rapid-fire words in his sleep; his cool cloth had fallen to the floor amidst all the movement. Gabriel could sense his dog hiding underneath the bed, and that alone was a telltale sign that meant whatever was going on was not heading for something good.

"… leave me be… can't hold off… much longer… too many… someone… help… p-please…"

It seemed that Castiel was entangled in another nightmare, but this time it was so bad it was scaring the ever-loving crap out of him, not to mention screwing around with the small light of his Grace like it was taffy. He was moaning weakly, almost in a begging manner, and there were moments when he would cease breathing. Blood was peeking out from under his hospital gown, which indicated that his wounds had reopened again, and if in the fit he accidentally pressed a hand to his midsection…

If Castiel banished himself off to a random location in this condition, he would not last long, and that barely had to do with the demons crawling around the continents just waiting for an easy picking. Gabriel sprang into action.

Without caring if his sudden maneuver would cause the healing sigil on his little brother's torso to peal further, or if he ripped the IV drip right out of Castiel's hand, Gabriel grabbed hold of his trembling shoulders and pulled him away from the pillows. Castiel followed the movement without resistance, his head lolling forward.

Now that he was touching him, Gabriel could feel every flow and spark of his little brother's Grace as if he was holding it in his own hands. It was acting on the fritz, and it had expanded – not grown – since the last time he checked. If it had grown, it would have been more natural and a hell of a lot safer, like what any other living thing would do, but since it inflated like a balloon (and near bursting), it just got its form distorted and, right now, Castiel's amount of Grace was so scant it could not handle the change.

As Gabriel gripped his little brother, he wondered what could have caused his Grace to act this way. Then, it came to him that it might have involved him staying this close and this long to his little brother that Castiel had tapped into a bit of his, Gabriel's, Grace.

He could bitch about Castiel's petty thief skills later; now, he had to get him to wake up, and he doubted fluffy words will do anything this time.

"Cas. Castiel! Bro, wake up! Come on, up and at 'em!" said Gabriel, shaking him by the shoulders and lightly slapping his cheek.

Castiel was so far too deep into his nightmare that he was not responding. His temperature was going up and down and back again like crazy, and with how much he was shaking Gabriel suspected that his brain was getting a bit beaten up.

"Damn it, Castiel, wake the hell up!" Gabriel yelled. He raised his little brother's limp head to face him, and even though his eyes were closed and scrunched in torture, Gabriel could tell that his pupils were moving so fast under their lids they were approaching the freaking speed of sound; at least Castiel still had enough angel juice in him that he can manage reaching that level of speed.

"… won't take me… won't take me away… won't go back… won't… can't make –" Castiel's rambling slurs were cut off when he cried out in pain. He curled into himself, and when Gabriel searched for the source, he found it at the site of his little brother's solar plexus, where the blood staining his gown amounted to the size of a watermelon.

Gabriel put all thoughts of shaking him to wakefulness out the window. Castiel made an attempt to clutch at his wounds but Gabriel ruthlessly wrenched his arm away. He had to think of a better tactic, preferably one that would not have him using his powers.

"Heed my words, brother, and awaken. Action must be taken and what you are carrying out is not benefiting anybody. Open your eyes and return yourself to this world. You are summoned and needed. Am I understood, Castiel?" he asked, and there was no mistaking the voice of an archangel – the voice that had commanded garrisons, echoed throughout the battlefields, shook Heaven to its very foundations and had conversed with every race of man, every rank of angel and even God – punctuating every letter.

Outside the pocket dimension, the building quavered and the power momentarily went out.

Gabriel hated that he had to pick up that tone again, but he was running low on options here and it appeared that it had an effect. Through the tremors plaguing his vessel, Castiel shivered and sucked in a rattling breath; his ramblings quieted until they faded completely and the flickering under his eyelids slowed down.

It was not long until the spasms gradually went away. If it was even possible, Castiel sagged further into Gabriel's firm hold, yet it was clear that he was getting some degree of consciousness back.

Upon seeing his little brother's closed eyes twitch a couple of times, Gabriel released a sigh of relief and felt himself relax. But then, when Castiel's eyes opened, his body jerked backward so forcefully that if Gabriel had not been holding him (and, you know, possessed the strength of an archangel) he would have flown right into the wall.

Castiel was convulsing again, albeit this time, his eye sockets and inside his partly open mouth revealed nothing except light that would have blinded humans.

Castiel had retained his angelic instincts to never disappoint the command of an archangel, alright; he definitely showed up but apparently he had forgotten that he was still attached to a vessel.

Crap.

This just went to show that nothing good ever came with the job of an archangel.

Gabriel was panicking now, but if his life in Heaven had ever taught him anything, it was to keep a clear head; whatever improvisation he had to do next, he had to do it without screw-ups. Should his little brother ever manage to fly the coop, he would be dragged back home and there would be the crappiest welcome wagon waiting for him at the front lawn.

"Cas, listen to me, alright? Abort mission; do not – I repeat, _not_ – leave the vessel!" he said. "Bro, I meant what I said a while back; you're needed, okay? You got a lot of lives depending on your ass, you hear me? _Don't bail_!"

Castiel – or presumably, his vessel – was shaking from the effort of letting a bit of his true form out. What was worse was that, despite the fact that the radiance would have instantly melted human eyeballs, to creatures like Gabriel, the sight was about as exciting as staring at a very dim, almost-dead light. Also, it did not help matters any when he discovered that his little brother was not breathing anymore.

It _really_ did not help matters when Gabriel sensed that Castiel was actually _willing_ to break out of his meat suit. Castiel had to be in a way worse predicament than Gabriel figured; he knew his little brother was messed up big time, but _this_?

"Don't do this, Cas! Stay with me. Yeah, you've had your wings handed to you on a lot of rounds but the match ain't over yet. Come on, bro, you got me begging here, and you know I hardly beg to anyone." Gabriel pressed on.

Castiel's Grace was starting to fall apart and bleed its essence out, but Castiel still seemed intent on getting out to escape the pain.

"You think there's no point in sticking around anymore, you think you're done and no one needs you, and you think hope's just a big gag now. But you're wrong, Cas. You're one of the only few chances this planet has of surviving, I've seen what you did. You're down for the count right now but you're gonna get your stubborn ass back up like you always do.

"And if you had ever thought that no one gives a damn about you – newsflash, bro – you've got a ton of people who have your back. Those idiot Winchesters? They've been searching for you nonstop; well, okay, they're not exactly posting pictures of you on milk cartons but they're trying. And here I am playing nursemaid to you for nearly a week now! And by the way, you are _not_ gonna tell anyone about that!"

Gabriel paused and took the opportunity to choose his next words carefully. "Look, bro, I know we didn't see eye-to-eye last time we met, but I want you to know that I care about you, okay? Unlike the rest of our dick family, I wanna look out for you." He lowered his voice and spoke a tad slower. "Don't make the same mistakes I have; don't run while you can still do something about it."

Other than the trembling, Castiel remained as stiff as a board in his hands, and for minute Gabriel thought the mushiness (which was the truth anyway, hard as they were to get out of his mouth) he was exerting was all going to waste.

But then he saw it: the light flickering in Castiel's eyes and mouth.

In an instant, the light decisively went out and his little brother came falling into him. The next thing that happened was Castiel coughing up blood into his shirt, but Gabriel could not bring himself to care about that. He got his brother back.

It later turned into a nasty fit, though it was nothing he could not remedy after some time passed. That incident with Castiel's true form had done a number on his Grace, right to the extent that all that was left of it was the equivalent of a crumb. There was nothing Gabriel can do about that without the risk of obliterating his little brother; Dad was the only one who can fix damages as big as this, but since He was not here at the moment, Gabriel will do everything he can.

When the coughing fit ended, Gabriel felt a fleeting moment of awareness grab hold of his little brother, and he immediately took the opportunity. He gingerly lifted Castiel's head and saw how much of his blood was smeared around his mouth; his breaths were raspy wheezes and he had to struggle with every intake. However, his eyes – though half-lidded, dazed and glassy – were showing a less threatening blue color, so in a slight way, he was thankfully awake.

"Hey. Hey, Castiel. Come on, bro; look at me," said Gabriel.

It took some time, plus a bit more guidance, but eventually his little brother's unfocussed eyes succeeded in finding his. From the way his eyelids were drooping, Castiel did not have long to be attentive.

"No matter what happens, I want you to know that I'll always be here for you. Count on that, alright? I'm here for you." Gabriel promised.

That was all he could say before Castiel passed out.

Gabriel just sat there on the bed, holding his little brother, who was now human.

TBC

* * *

_Holy mother of crap on rollerblades, I finally got this chapter written! Thank you so freaking much for the reviews, faves and alerts! Sorry this came kinda late, but with weekend here, rest assured that I have more time to work on this._

_All of the creatures Gabriel spied on are based on real mythology, and the only thing I made up was that part about the oasis._

…_on a side-note, anyone else watched the recent ep? I got sorta freaked out when I found out how big angels' true forms could get o_o_


	7. Chapter 7

"_Fly on these second-hand wings_

_Willing to find out what impossible means_

_I'll climb through the heavens on feathers and dreams_

_'Cause the melting point of wax means nothing to me"_

_Thrice - Melting Point of Wax _

* * *

Gabriel was watching the fake-Castiel at the other end of the room.

The 'real world' was always visible from the pocket dimension, almost like there had never been a division between the two. Of course, he had made the division soundproof ('cuz he had no intention of hearing what the doctors were yammering on about and what the new mondo-druggie across the hall had to say about SpongeBob every half hour), but something would constantly tug at him to take a sneak peak at the 'real world' and he always resisted that pull.

Until now.

The fake-Castiel still had the breathing tube inserted into his esophagus; he was still wired to the heart monitor, which still showed that his heart was barely beating. His complexion was still bloodless and he had yet to exhibit the remotest signs of consciousness. If he were ever really alive, things would be looking ten shades of bleak for him, and if he were ever alive, the guy only had a few days, tops, left to live.

Gabriel was trying to convince himself that this was a sight that was good to stare at for six straight hours without blinking. However, getting his mind to wrap around the situation in that way was seriously not working out that well, sort of like sprinkling a buttload of pixie dust on a person's head and getting the worst case of asthma instead of rocketing into the ceiling.

The fake-Castiel was supposed to make him feel better; if he had to compare the fake one to the real one, he should be up to his ears in gratefulness that the real one was not as bad off as the fake one.

That did not mean that the real one was having a peachy recovery behind him.

Honestly, Gabriel had no freaking clue what he should do next. He had been taking his stress out on chocolate bars for the past two hours and if he had not been poofing the wrappers away, space would be non-existent in the pocket dimension. Still, as un-progressive as sitting on his bum all day was, it was the only thing preventing him from ripping buildings apart like paper – really, really ugly paper.

Who was the douche who got the idea of inventing those banishing sigils to begin with anyway?

Oh right, _he_ was; that was why he had felt the shockwave in Van Nuys so clearly. But how was he supposed to know that this was what would happen if angels had the random thought to doodle the sigils _on_ _themselves_?

Gabriel felt the slightest shift go through the bed, and in the next second he heard his little brother beginning to stir.

He hovered over Castiel, watching him laboriously climb his way to wakefulness. Castiel produced a tiny moan of effort as his head twitched to the side, and it might not really mean anything, but Gabriel was glad that Castiel at least turned toward him. His dog perked up from where it was lying at the foot of the bed and was instantly beside Castiel's left arm, although it was careful not to knock over the IV drip.

If Gabriel had ever relied on breathing, he would be holding his breath right now. Castiel's brow furrowed and Gabriel wondered if that had to do with the sheer exertion of leaving La La Land or the light coming straight for his eyeballs. With a snap of his fingers, the lights over their head became dimmer and he inched further into the bed.

At last, his little brother's eyes cracked open.

Castiel was still kind of out-of-it; he probably could not make heads or tails of what he was seeing at the moment, granted that he was really _seeing_. The blue orbs were glassy, its usually intense stare dulled by sleep and fever. But bit by bit, recognition seeped in, and after a few seconds – what do you know? – the metaphorical hamster was up and about and making its metaphorical wheel spin.

"Guh… G-Ga'riel," he slurred hoarsely, and, yeah, he just squinted right there.

There should be a freaking choir singing right now, like in those cheesy, cliché scenes where a miracle finally happened after being served every form of crap the world was capable of giving.

Maybe another time.

"The one and only." Gabriel replied, offering a smile.

There was a couple of seconds of silence in what Gabriel guessed had to be his little brother's still-way-too-slow reaction time. His head must still be sort of fuzzy inside, like how static would show on TV when the reception was not quite that right; the 'satellite' looked as if it was starting to lean toward the proper angle though.

"Where – ?" Whatever Castiel had to ask, which was barely above a whisper, was cut off when a (thankfully bloodless) coughing fit hit him.

It was still awful to hear though; Castiel's throat was so dry from not having a drink for a week and the sound was just grating. Gabriel helped him sit a bit more upright as he traded the half-eaten Crunch in his other hand for a steaming mug of hot chocolate. He returned his attention to Castiel in time to see him making an attempt to clutch at his abdomen and Gabriel quickly pulled his hands away, even though the sigils would be pretty much useless on him now.

The fit ended soon enough, and Gabriel cautiously placed his little brother back against the pillows. "House rules: everything that's fourteen meters above your bellybutton is, for the meantime, a hands-free zone, got it?"

Castiel was panting raggedly; his eyes were shut but he was by no means unconscious. Gabriel let the hot chocolate drift under Castiel's nose in an attempt to rouse him, and the tactic eventually worked. Castiel's eyelids fluttered upward, albeit they did not go as much as they did a while ago, and his little brother's expression was blearier now more than ever.

"Here, bro; drink up. It's a lot tastier than meds." said Gabriel.

As expected, it took a while before Castiel could respond. "'M not… drinking 'nything." he whispered.

"You sure 'bout that? This stuff's fresh from Chamonix, and it has marshmallows!" tempted Gabriel.

This time, he was sure that Castiel was glaring at him. "Get away from me." he muttered.

"Whoa, ouch, good morning to you too, sunshine. It's just hot chocolate." said Gabriel.

Castiel shifted under the comforter that was now looking way too heavy on him. "'M tired of your tricks… Finish me off now or leave me alone." he shot back, and damn, the kid could reach a menacing tone even if he was half-dead.

"Hey, don't start forming a friendship circle without me," Gabriel replied sardonically. "The two of us are staying put right here whether you like it or not."

He let the mug of hot chocolate float in the air and reached for Castiel's forehead. Castiel tried to squirm away but it was pointless. "You, little brother, still have a fever, and until that and the sigils are all better, you are not leaving this room." Gabriel firmly pointed out.

That seemed to get Castiel for a moment. "I don't need your help, or anyone else's. I can take care of myself." he said.

Gabriel snorted. "Yeah, right, 'cuz you obviously didn't need my help for the past week." he said.

If Castiel was not so fatigued, he would have tilted his head and widened his eyes. "I was… It's been a week?" he asked.

"Yep,"

His little brother looked taken aback and he bowed his head in consideration.

"Hey, don't think too hard. Your body can't handle a lot right now." said Gabriel. He tried to not give too much away since Castiel had just woken up. Regardless, he was worried about what Castiel was and was not aware of right now.

"So I'm essentially mortal now," Castiel murmured, more to himself.

Well, Gabriel guessed he could tick _that_ off the list.

"Essentially, yeah." he could not help but agree.

For a second, he thought that Castiel would cry out in grief or something, but then his expression smoothed out again. "If this is another of your illusions – "

"It's not!" Gabriel interposed. "For the love of all things decent, would it kill you to trust me for a minute?"

"These previous months taught me not to trust any of my family anymore." said Castiel somberly.

On the one hand, Castiel did not know of the embarrassingly mushy moments over the past few days; on the other, he, Gabriel, had poured out a great big heap of almost everything and Castiel could not even remember one instance? Gabriel was about ready to smite something.

"Fine, don't trust me then. But would you at least look around before you pile me up alongside the bad guys?" Gabriel exclaimed. "Who do you think's been hiding your ass from the Wing Force while you recouped? Who do you think kept the docs around here from injecting a mountain of drugs into you and prodding at you like a kid's science experiment?"

Castiel absorbed his words and seemed reluctant to reply. "Why would you even bother doing this, assuming you are speaking the truth?" he said.

Gabriel sighed. "Maybe I wanna start acting like a brother again."

His little brother eyed him warily, unsure if he should believe him or not. Castiel opened his mouth to say something, except that another coughing fit assaulted him.

Gabriel pulled Castiel forward and patted him on his back. The fit concluded much faster than the last one; Gabriel offered the hot chocolate to him again.

"Just drink the damn thing." he told him.

Whether it was under the influence of Gabriel's order or Castiel was really getting uncomfortable, he took the mug into shaky hands and did what he was told. It began as a tentative sip first, then a pause, then Castiel downed the entire the mug in a few gulps. When Castiel gradually pulled the mug away from him, Gabriel did not miss him licking his lips.

"Good, huh?" he teased.

Castiel lowered the mug to his lap, looking at the comforter, embarrassed.

Gabriel smirked, and like what any older brother ought to do in these situations, he emphasized his brother's misery by ruffling his hair. Castiel jerked back, but it lacked the tautness of evading an attack.

It did not take long for the hot chocolate to start making Castiel drowsy, and it was obvious that he had reached that point when his head was tipping down and his eyelids were descending.

"Get some sleep, bro; you look like you need it." said Gabriel.

"Not tired," Castiel muttered, eyes almost closed.

"Sure you're not, Cas."

Gabriel did not even get to the count of two before his little brother was out like a light.

After five minutes, Gabriel conjured another chocolate bar.

TBC

* * *

_Let my first words be: I HATE HAVING TO DO HOMEWORK! Okay, I'm good._

_This is originally the last chapter, but then my brain started sprouting a couple of ideas and I had to edit these last parts so look forward to two more chapters._

_You guys have been great – I mean it – and thank you for supporting me this long. I'm gonna try replying to as much comments as I can either for the next chapter or the last chapter, but not tonight or tomorrow. I've already put off a quarter of my homework writing this, not that I'm saying that's a bad thing._


	8. Chapter 8

_"There is a place I'd love to go_

_Strangers takin' me there_

_I dream about the day I learn to fly_

_.  
_

_I'm afraid of aeroplanes_

_Even though I like the way_

_It feels to be a person in the sky_

_.  
_

_It's alright and it's good this time_

_Foo Fighters - A320_

* * *

In the early hours of twilight, Gabriel was making a present for his little brother, because he obviously could not leave him alone yet and he had nothing else better to do at this hour.

He conjured a box onto the bed; inside the box were Castiel's usual drab getup, all fixed up and smelling like a very manly mixture of a pine forest and cinnamon (Gabriel considered changing it into something kind of more badass but, meh, whatever). Alongside his old clothes was a shiny new pair of angel killing swords, and what gave them a unique edge was that they would only be solid in Castiel's (and his, duh) hands. Next to the swords were a brand new cell phone with a whole range of catchy ring-tones (because he was an awesome brother), maps, a couple of bus schedule pamphlets and soft ginger and berry cookies all wrapped up in a doggy bag.

Gabriel snapped his fingers and the box was wrapped in blue foil. All he needed now was a ginormous swirly bow and a tiny card expressing how much his brother meant to him and he would be all set to barf out his kidneys at the sheer mushiness of the situation. Seriously, mauling people with a breadstick would be less painful on his ego than this.

Castiel better appreciate him for this.

His dog rose from where it was pressed beside his left thigh and that was Gabriel's indication that Castiel was waking up again. When Gabriel turned, he saw that his little brother still took a while to get his bearings, but that might be because he was not used to sleeping. This time, there were not any coughing fits, and Castiel actually reconnected to reality way faster than last time.

"Wakey, wakey; I got ice cream and cakey." Gabriel chimed, holding out his hand and making a bowl of ice cream (well, technically it was gelato) cake materialize. "Courtesy of a gelataria on the tropical side of the planet. You haven't tasted bliss yet if you haven't eaten from them, and, hey, this thing's actually said to be healthy, so power up, bro."

Castiel rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and brusquely stopped when he realized what he was doing. "I'm not hungry." he muttered.

As if on cue, his stomach growled, announcing to the world otherwise.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." said Gabriel, smirking. He conjured one of those breakfast-in-bed kind of trays and placed the bowl on top of it, then pushed everything to his little brother.

"I refuse to eat anything you give me." said Castiel.

"Come on, Cas, we've been through this." Gabriel sighed. "First of all, you're human now, and if you wanna keep ticking you gotta eat. Second of all, if you still think I'm gonna knock you around like a paddle ball or mail you back home, don't you think I would've done it by now?" he added.

"You could just be bidding your time." replied Castiel.

"What would doing any of those even accomplish for me?" asked Gabriel.

"I wouldn't know, Gabriel; I'm not the one who's calling the shots here." Castiel snapped a bit awkwardly, but the growl was still there.

Gabriel was caught in between being impressed to the point of laughing his cheeks off and being royally pissed. "My, my, my; aren't you becoming more human everyday," he commented. "At least you learned a thing or two from hanging out with the two knuckleheads all the time."

At that, Castiel turned his head away from him.

Now, this was just a far-fetched notion, but Gabriel thought that he had just hurt his little brother's feelings.

"Hey, I'm sorry, alright? I wish I could do something about this but I can't. Point is, you're human now and you can't go around denying that." said Gabriel.

Castiel did not say anything for a while, just ran a hand along his scalp before stopping midway to clutch at his head. "I don't know how to live like this. I miss my old self; I miss the sight of Heaven." he admitted quietly.

Gabriel could not find a decent sentence to respond to that. He really wished he could restore his little brother's Grace despite that it might not be permanent, but Castiel was now too much of a human to withstand the intensity of even a drop of pure Grace, let alone the whole enchilada.

His dog curled up on Castiel's lap, as if to provide comfort, yet Castiel did not seem to notice since he had that spaced-out look on his face.

Then, Castiel suddenly turned toward Gabriel wearing his equivalent of a horrified expression. "Gabriel… I don't remember what Heaven looks like." he said, appalled.

Gabriel's eyes widened.

Castiel was now holding his head using both of his hands, his eyes scrunched closed. "I don't remember any of the features in Heaven… I don't remember how extensive my wings are… the names in my garrison… when my creation was... the incantations... I can't..."

What happened the next second was his little brother crying out in torment as he held his head so tightly in a way that he gave off the impression that he was trying to keep his brain from exploding out of his skull. It was then that Gabriel realized what was happening: Castiel was like, what, hundreds of thousands of years old? Way, way younger than he, Gabriel, was by family standards, but human melons were not really all that equipped for handling memories that date all the way back to that long. Since Castiel just got his system downgraded, everything he had left had to be crammed into his vessel, and that was as effective as shoving an entire country into a jack-in-a-box.

If Gabriel would not do anything about this soon, Castiel was going to go crazy, and definitely _not _in a funny/amusing way.

He could always _let _him forget about everything in Heaven - it would sure be a lot easier for him if he did not remember that virtually every sibling had branded a bulls-eye on him, and if he truly was going to be human forever, remembering that he had once been an angel would just tear him apart with grief. Castiel could get out of this messed up war and start a new life as a mortal, and hopefully a happier one at that.

No, he would never do that, not even if Castiel asked that of him; he might as well kill Castiel now if he was going to erase who he was.

Gabriel pried Castiel's white-knuckled hands away from his head and placed his own fingers lightly on his little brother's temples. "Cas, I'm gonna do something, okay? It's gonna hurt a bit - alright, it's gonna hurt like you've been pounded by a meteor but it'll get your head straightened out." he said.

Castiel managed to shake his head before he curled into himself.

Gabriel frowned lopsidedly. "Sorry, bro; this is for your own good."

The last thing he saw was his dog ducking out of sight.

A surge of energy flowed through Gabriel's fingers and Castiel felt it in an instant. His little brother let out a wild scream and started writhing in his place, trying to get away but Gabriel held him. He watched with forced calm as razor-sharp pulses of lightning ripped its way across Castiel's mind in innumerable directions, shifting and forming and molding. They tore out dead ends and replaced them with crevices, straight lines with perpetually looping curves; they pushed and pulled without mercy and drilled in space like they actually wanted to destroy everything.

Castiel was thrashing about like his skin was on fire, and with the fever helping it kind of was. He was screaming himself hoarse and Gabriel was only barely aware of hearing the tray drop to the floor and the bowl of ice cream cake shatter.

"Just a bit longer," Gabriel assured, although he doubted his little brother could hear him.

Blood was beginning to run from Castiel's nose and his fever was spiking again, but Gabriel pressed on until he deemed the task done, even if this pained him more than Castiel. At this point, Gabriel could actually feel his fingers damaging the spots where he was touching his little brother's skin.

When Gabriel finally removed his fingers, he saw that there was a bloody cut along Castiel's left brow, though at least it was nothing life-threateningly serious. Castiel limply fell back onto the pillows, panting raggedly and staring out with dazed, half-lidded eyes.

"Castiel?" Gabriel asked carefully. "Cas? Can you hear me?"

His little brother just looked out unseeingly, his breaths coming in slower.

"Brother?"

Please, Dad, do not let him be dying. He cannot go back home like this.

After what felt like a century, Castiel blinked and moaned miserably.

Gabriel sighed in relief. "You got me going for a while there," he chuckled humorlessly. "I should probably warn you now that you can access all of your memories, although it'll take a bit of a while before they kick in. And as much as possible, try not to get all nostalgic about the BC years; they'll pack a punch."

Castiel let out another, weaker moan and Gabriel realized that his little brother was still suffering from an epic hangover.

Materializing a wash cloth into his hand, Gabriel put himself in front of Castiel and gently wiped the blood off his face. "S'okay, Cas. It's all over now." he said softly. "Shhh, you're gonna be okay. I won't let anything hurt you as long as I got your back. I'm your brother and I'm here for you, okay?"

His little brother blinked and a small amount of clarity returned to his eyes. He slurred out something Gabriel could not understand.

"What? That better not be an insult." Gabriel said, but he kept his voice light.

It took almost a minute before Castiel found his voice. "Said... it's famil'r." he muttered.

"What is?"

"What... you said... s'like... heard it b'fore."

Gabriel raised a brow. "Are you implying that I'm getting predictable? If you are, I'm gonna set up some drastic changes when this all blows over." he replied.

"...told that t'me... 'fore,"

Gabriel wondered if that meant that Castiel had been somewhat aware at certain points in time when he had been taking care of him. He snapped his fingers and a cool cloth appeared on his little brother's forehead. "How do you feel?"

Castiel closed his eyes and seemed to have fallen asleep. "Agonized." he murmured after a while.

The wash cloth vanished from Gabriel's hands. "Just hang in there, bro; the buzz will wear off after a coupla minutes." he said.

"I don't like it." said Castiel.

"It's called pain, Cas; you're not supposed to like it." Gabriel remarked. He sat back and studied the state of his little brother. "I'd say in about a week or so you can bust outta here - get back to the real world, you know? I dunno about you, but I'm not gonna spend the rest of the war in here. So whenever you're up to it, just press this button - " Gabriel conjured a small black box with a red button on it. " - and you'll switch places with you clone over there. Oh, and don't worry, you'll get shipped as is and you wouldn't have that tube jammed into you again. And before you ask, the reason why I want you to poof up next door first is 'cuz I wanna make sure the docs could actually get a look at you and let you go free when you're _honestly well enough_. I know you're excited to get back to the Winchesters, but I kinda have an appointment coming up soon so this is my last day to keep an eye on you, at least for a while." he said.

The effort that Castiel used to crack his eyes open looked way too much compared to how uncomplicated the action was. "Don't wanna go back to 'em... not after ev'rything I did." he said.

If Gabriel had anything he was not expecting, this would be it. "What, you pissed your humans off? Ate the last slice of pizza or something?" he asked.

His little brother's gaze broke away from his. "It doesn't matter. I can't go back to them like this." said Castiel.

"Well, you gotta show your face to them eventually." said Gabriel. "Those idiots need you."

Castiel did not say anything.

Gabriel sighed and decided not to push the topic any longer. He reached for the blue box and set it beside his little brother's pillow. "Here, you'll need what's in here when you're on the move again. Open it once you're on the other side of the room." he instructed, watching Castiel give the barest of a nod.

Gabriel conjured a table within Castiel's reach, then neatly placed several cakes, fruits, boxes of Chinese takeout and glasses of water on its surface. "To keep you from starving while I'm gone." he said.

He figured that was about it. The fever would go away on its own soon enough, and the banishing sigils should not be a problem anymore, being the most they could do now was sting. His little brother would be alright.

Standing up, Gabriel smiled and declared, "Well, I guess it's time for us to part ways, bro. You've been one hell of a crappy patient but then who isn't these days? I'll be dropping in on you whenever I can, and before that time comes, do me a favor and give those Winchesters a good smack upside the head, will you?"

Gabriel whistled and his dog came running for his heels. He was about to snap both of them out of here when he heard Castiel.

"Gabriel, wait,"

He whipped around to where his little brother was, and he could have sworn that he almost looked crushed at him leaving.

"Thank you... brother. Thank you for everything." said Castiel.

Brother. He just admitted they were brothers.

Gabriel thought, "Ah, why not?" and walked over to the bed for the last time to give his little brother a farewell hug. "Take care of yourself, okay? And learn to live a little; it's not like the world would end if you do."

"But, considering the current circumstances, it would pro- " Castiel began.

"It's an expression." cut in Gabriel, smirking. "And say goodbye to the little helper too," he added as he lifted his dog onto the bed.

His dog instantly went for Castiel's cheek and started to lick him affectionately. It was kind of hard to tell if Castiel was finding the experience irritating or pleasant but he did not make an effort to shove the dog aside.

"Alright, boy, I think Cas got the message," Gabriel chuckled as he scooped his dog into his arms. He turned toward Castiel and his expression grew serious. "Remember everything I told you, and keep fighting no matter what."

The response was somewhat hesitant, but Castiel eventually nodded his head in pure understanding.

Gabriel smiled at him, not as a trickster, not as an archangel, but exuding a kind of warmness only a brother was capable of giving. After performing one final check, he snapped his fingers and was on his way to crash a very high-and-mighty party.

TBC

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_Again and again and again, thank you so much for the reviews and alerts! I had a lot of free time at school today so I managed to get this up a little sooner._

_And for those wondering, yeah, Cas did hear some of the mushy stuff from Gabriel. How much did he hear exactly? Only Cas can answer that. :)_

_Also, remember that stitching Cas had on his head when he called Dean? I tied that in with this.  
_

_Lastly, for those who didn't get that last line, Gabriel just moved on to "Hammer of the Gods". That's that big lead he had been tracking in the previous chapters.  
_

_Just one more chapter to go! Review like your sanity depends on it!  
_


	9. Chapter 9

"_Both of you are birds of self-same feather."_

_~ William Shakespeare_

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_

Castiel pushed the button exactly a week after Gabriel left.

Within a heartbeat, he found himself on a much thinner, simpler bed, and he could hear sounds outside his room, sounds that, for the first time in weeks, were made by humans. He discovered that he was not as used to hearing them again as he had before entering the warehouse in Van Nuys. The perception was… disorienting, to say the least.

By his side, Castiel saw the blue box Gabriel had given to him. Gabriel told him to open it once he was here, so he did.

Inside were a handful of useful items that made him realize just how much effort his brother had placed into staying true to his word and taking care of him. However, what truly caught his attention was the writing scribbled underneath the lid in bold orange:

'_Michael's not in him, I checked. Thought I'd oughta let you know.'_

Castiel felt a sudden flutter of hope where his Grace should have been, and if his wings were still present to his senses, he assumed they would have twitched, anticipating the moment when he had to go and fly to Dean. Michael was still without his vessel; the world had a real chance of surviving.

His rebellion had not been in vain after all.

His thoughts immediately returned to Dean, and all the things he had said and done to him came back in a wave of repentance and guilt. Castiel could almost hear Gabriel's words echoing in his head, telling him that the Winchesters needed him, angel powers or no.

He made up his mind. Castiel was about to reach back into the box for the cell phone when he saw a nurse glance at his room. He recalled the fact that he was no longer in Gabriel's pocket dimension, which meant that he was now fully exposed to the sight of humans. For a moment, Castiel hoped that the nurse would merely keep walking and be on her way; he sincerely did not want to interact with anybody else so soon.

Unfortunately, she yelled for some more doctors as she practically charged into his room.

Within seconds, Castiel finally understood why Dean insisted on maintaining personal space from him so often. Questions were fired off – "How do you feel?" "How long have you been conscious, sir?" "Can you tell us your name?" "Do you remember what happened to you?" "Are you in discomfort?" "So how's our brain-dead patient doing?" "Do you have any family members we can contact?" "Can you hear me, sir? Do you understand what I'm saying?" – and they made his head pound.

Amidst the noise and chaos, Castiel remembered that the box Gabriel had given him was still on the bed, and no doubt the doctors would confiscate them. Castiel opened his eyes, which he had not realized he had shut tight, only to find that the box had vanished, as if into thin air.

His focus was then directed to his forehead, where one of the doctors had slapped his cold palm on. He was checking his temperature, Castiel realized, in the same method Gabriel had used. But the gesture lacked genuine concern; it was quick and systematic and not at all reassuring. Castiel suddenly missed the presence of his older brother.

Somewhere in the babbling, he heard a doctor saying that his condition was more or less well enough to be admitted out in a matter of a few days. Castiel was relieved to hear that, but he preferred to depart _now_.

As if to contradict his desire, another doctor produced a needle and inserted some kind of liquid into his arm. Half of the doctors began filing out of the room, while the other half either talked amongst themselves or consulted the charts at his bed or the machines beside him. Castiel figured that this was as good a chance for him to flee.

All of a sudden, he started to feel dizzy and lightheaded. His limbs were becoming less responsive to his commands and his head was somehow growing heavier. Castiel caught himself before his chin so much as brushed against his chest, although now his thoughts were coming in slower and his vision was blurring. He felt tired, and when he tried to shake off the feeling by shaking his head, there was a momentary headache before he felt his mind being wrapped around in and numbed by what was similar to warm cotton.

His eyelids flickered and he discovered that keeping them up was becoming harder to carry out. The doctors were watching him, giving him their best smiles like nothing wrong was happening. Castiel was getting unnerved by everything that was going on, but he was so sleepy that he could not bring himself to care about the gravity of the situation. The doctors could be demons, for all he knew; and the liquid presently going through him could possibly be poison.

He unconsciously searched the smiling faces for that of his older brother's, and it was either his eyes were failing him faster than what he had predicted or Gabriel was not there because Castiel could not find him.

"Brother," he called out. Castiel was vaguely aware of his mouth working, but he did not know if any sound came out.

He was becoming fearful. What had these people done to him? Gabriel would never do this to him. Where was Gabriel? He had to get away from these people; he needed to find Gabriel, Dean, Sam, anybody.

But he was so sleepy – so very sleepy – and the world was getting dark…

O_x

Castiel woke up feeling stiff, yet otherwise unharmed. After a couple of more minutes of adjustment, he noticed that sunlight was coming out of the windows. If he had to guess, he had been asleep for a long time; he almost expected Gabriel to hover over him and offer him something sweet, but he was alone in the room and only an empty glass was on his bedside table.

His throat felt dry and his brain was throbbing in several areas, the latter being worse than the time when he had went off on his own when he learned that his Father was not going to do anything about the Apocalypse, though definitely not as bad as when Gabriel had extended his mortal mind's capacity.

He felt an odd sensation niggling at his right arm, and when he tried to move it, it brushed against his gown and he figured that this could be what was called an itch. Castiel tried to move his other arm to scratch it, merely to discover that moving brought him a tremendous explosion of pain. He waited a bit before he could get himself to move, and although this time the pain was less, it was by far not ignorable.

Castiel wondered if this disadvantage was because of whatever liquid the doctors had injected into him, plus the fact that his human body was still adjusting to the sudden changes. Then again, before exiting the pocket dimension, he had hardly been plagued by the want to move since everything he needed was always well within his reach, and the most movement he had made then was to reach for food.

His mind was still wallowing in a thick haze but eventually he remembered that he still had to get to the Winchesters. Castiel looked around for the box, where the cell phone was; however, it was nowhere to be seen. The doctors must have taken it away then.

Grimacing, Castiel scanned the room until his eyes landed on an electrical phone. He almost did not want to reach out to it, knowing what amount of pain that would cause, but he knew he had to. He braced himself for the flare as he gradually extended his arm and punched in the numbers.

A sense of nervousness filled his core, and he doubted that that entirely had to do with him now being human. Would the Winchesters really want him back? Would Dean still consider him an ally after he had given him that brutal beating?

The fact that the other end of the line picked up at all sent him a great wave of relief.

Castiel discovered that his voice sounded relatively parched, but he would have to make do with it, despite that it made his throat hurt. He was certain that it was Dean – not Michael, or anybody else – who answered him when he heard his nickname. Castiel was surprised that Dean actually sounded concerned about him; he had expected him to be angry, or indifferent, or totally end the call but those were apparently not the case.

He answered Dean's questions as truthfully as he could, employing the information he had gathered from Gabriel and his brief encounter with the swarm of doctors. However, he decided to keep Gabriel's visitations classified, at least for now, since Dean would most likely get riled up and Castiel simply did not have the energy to presently handle that kind of reaction. That, and also because he suspected his brother would not look too highly on that being revealed either.

As the conversation went on, Castiel noted that the box was beside him and slightly under the pillows. He knew that he still had a headache but he could have sworn that that box was not there moments ago. At least now he would have something to wear other than the thin hospital gown once he was out, and he was certain that the bus schedules would come very much in handy.

Castiel put the phone down after a few minutes, feeling ready now more than ever to get back into the fight.

O_x

At the end of the war, when the planet was achieving its first semblance of a reprieve, Castiel figured it was _his _turn to pay Gabriel a visit; it was the least he could do.

Gabriel's dog was there to greet him, although it, too, had been scarred by the things that had happened. Castiel rubbed its head in greeting before he approached his older brother, who he could sense was watching his every move.

"Brother," Castiel began. "You were right in saying that I shouldn't give up. Even though there had been… casualties, in the end, everything mattered."

He paused. Gabriel remained silent, but attentive.

"As you have probably heard, Michael is in Hell with Lucifer." Castiel continued. "I am… considering getting our home back in order. I realize that this is not an easy task, and I believe that there are still some more experienced angels who are much more capable of carrying out the job than I, but…" Castiel stopped to consider his next words. "But it is as though I feel I should do this."

The wind blew and he could have sworn that the air had the faint scent of chocolate. It was definitely a sign of approval, and Gabriel's smile was just as evident.

Castiel looked down at his shoes. "Aside from God, I'm here hoping to have your guidance on that matter. I truly don't know how to start." he reluctantly sighed.

Gabriel's dog nuzzled against Castiel's leg in reassurance, and Castiel allowed a tiny smile.

"Do you suppose I am able to bring our family together again, Gabriel? Or at least, what remains of it," he asked, looking up.

Gabriel did not even need to speak since his positive words were just as loud in Castiel's mind. His older brother's encouragement resounded deep into his Grace and Castiel could almost feel both of their Graces mingling with each other.

"I humbly apologize for not putting my trust in you before, but I am glad to have had at least one brother with me when everyone else had abandoned me. You made me remember what family is meant to be like and I wish I could repay you more." said Castiel.

He took a few more steps forward until the two of them were separated by mere inches, and all the while Gabriel's dog was at Castiel's side.

With resolution set, Castiel reached out his hand and placed it on top of his older brother's gravestone in the middle of a field of lush grass and poppies, a field that had once been the site of Elysian Fields hotel.

"May you finally be at peace, Gabriel. You died doing what you do best: being a brother." Castiel whispered. He let his hand linger on the smooth stone for a moment, and he made sure to ward off the area as well to prevent it from being destroyed or weathered down.

After some time, Castiel straightened up. "Your name will forever be remembered." he said. "We will always be brothers, even through the eons. I promise, Gabriel, that I'm here for you."

Fin.

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_IT. IS. DONE! Confetti, it's a parade!_

_Sorry I'm late in updating this; I was supposed to write and finish it last night but stuff happened._

_For those who had been hoping for Gabriel to live, I'm sorry that he still had to die anyway, but it's more poetic/heroic like this, in a sense._

_THANK YOU FOR EVERY ONE OF YOU WHO REVIEWED AND ALERTED! NOW REVIEW! :)_

_I'm thinking about doing a 'sort of' sequel. It won't be as long as this but you'll never know. What do you guys think? Should I?_


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